SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Environment’s Ship It Zero coalition commends IKEA for continuing to prioritize maritime shipping decarbonization, as reflected in the company’s FY24 Climate and Sustainability reports released this week. As the leading retailer in green shipping, Pacific Environment encourages IKEA to push other retailers to move towards zero-emission ships and commit to truly green fuels. 

The following statement is from Jonathan Butler, Pacific Environment’s Climate Campaign Manager for Corporate and lead representative of the Ship It Zero campaign: 

“We appreciate IKEA’s commitment to moving the needle on maritime decarbonization, as shipping is one of the major industries that has long been addicted to fossil fuels that threaten public health, the environment and the climate.

“However, biofuels are not a permanent solution and agree that we must move to truly green sources of maritime fuel. We call on IKEA to be more ambitious with green maritime fuels and continue leading the way for retailers in the pursuit of green fuels and a zero-emission maritime shipping future.

“The company’s efforts to invest in new systems and infrastructure, like book and claim, which aim to unlock wider adoption of alternative fuels are short-term, transitional options. The health of our communities and planet necessitate larger, more ambitious, efforts to decarbonize will be needed to reach zero-emission maritime shipping on a science-aligned timeline.”

Background

In November 2024, the Ship It Zero campaign announced the release of its 2024 Retailer Shipping Decarbonization Progress Reports, which calls upon IKEA, LG, Samsung and Home Depot to improve their performance during 2025 when the next round of Ship It Zero Report Cards are expected. The report found that IKEA has taken concrete action to decarbonize its maritime shipping logistics operations in recent years. IKEA earned a B+ in our 2023 Decarbonization Report Card and was the highest scoring company overall.

Although IKEA has made strides since the release of the 2023 report card, IKEA needs to do more to show its actions match its proclaimed ambitions. Ship It Zero calls on IKEA to continue working with its peers to not just invest time in the research and development of zero-emission technology but to begin to put things into action by advancing negotiations with carriers to have its goods transported on shore power-equipped ships. It’s time for IKEA to step up and lead the way for retailers on zero-emission shipping. 

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About Pacific Environment

Pacific Environment works to stop climate change and ensure healthy ecosystems around the Pacific Rim for the benefit of people and our planet. We campaign to stop climate change by working to fast-track key industries toward zero carbon emissions. We focus on major global industries that have received less public attention but whose carbon emissions are significant and still growing: the maritime shipping and the petrochemical (plastics) industries.

About Ship It Zero

Ship It Zero is a climate and public health campaign to move the world’s largest retail companies to 100% zero-emission ocean shipping. We are pushing corporations to take responsibility for their ocean shipping pollution and lead the way to climate-friendly, clean-air shipping practices.